U.S. judge rules mothers can keep fathers out of hospital delivery room

By Mason White 10:48 AM March 13, 2014

Hospital room illustration

By: Hydar Tomar
Witnessing the birth of one’s child can be a magical and bonding moment for the child’s father.

However, women won the right to keep their baby’s father out of the delivery room, according to The New Jersey Law Journal.

Superior Court Judge Sohail Mohammed, issued the decision concerning estranged and unmarried parents.
The judge ruled that a woman can keep the baby’s father out of the delivery room, based on her rights to privacy.

The judge noted that such issues – if a man has the right to be notified that his baby’s mother went into labor and if he is allowed to be in the delivery room, when the mother objects – was never litigated in New Jersey or in the United States.

The judge ruled in favor of the woman, on both the notification and entry by force into the delivery room issues. The judge said that “the unwelcome presence of the child’s father could cause additional stress on the mother and child.

Moreover, such a finding would also lead to a slippery slope where the mother’s interest could be subjugated to that of the fathers. “This clears up the issue once and for all that the woman gets to make that decision,” Brian Schwartz, chairperson of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Family Law said.